OCR Text |
Show AX AKMT IN TEN IfATB. Never before In the history of this country waa so large a body of troops mobilised at one point In so short a tlms as was taken In establishing ths maneuver maneu-ver camp at San Antonio. Tex. Orders for the movement of the troops wsrs Issued Is-sued from the war department during the afternoon of March 4. The seventeenth seven-teenth lnfsntry. stationed at Fort Mcpherson. Mc-pherson. Oa., wss the first orgsnlsattoQ . to receive Its orders at 4:10 that night. . By 4 p. m.. March 11. juat ten days later, an army numbering practloally 20.000 waa encamped about the Texas city. In the May number of Popular Mechanics Magaslne. L. William Thavla explains how It was possible to perform this remarkable re-markable feet, snd the credit Is largely given to the war college, where army officers of-ficers receive theoretics! training. He says: "At the war college In Wsshlng-ton. Wsshlng-ton. the mohlllsetlon of just such bodies of troops aa those now encemped shout San Antonio Is one of the chief studlee of the course. Even the emalleat detail In connection with such an undertaking Is not overlooked. Ptsns era prepared for the mobilisation of forces sbout prsc-tlcally prsc-tlcally every large city In the oountry. Every particle of Information that might be needed in the preparation of these plans Is at band at the war college, ao that nothing need be left to gueaswnrk. When once on of these moblllaatlnn plans haa beetl completed by the office ra under lnatruction at the Institution snd approved by those In suthorlty. It Is filed away for future reference. Included in the work of the war college there Is ths collection, srrangement and publication of historical, statistical snd geographical j Information; war maps American and . foreign; general Information regarding foreign armies and fortresses; and collation colla-tion and dlscussioiTof all obtainable data relating to etrateglcal. Jaetlcal and log- -letle features of future military operations opera-tions and formation of eomplete work- Ing plana for passing from stste of peace to stats of war. With such an arrangement, arrange-ment, very possible bit of assistance Is given the army officers when the time comes to order esbope Into the flsld." Ths article, which Is troll Illustrated, describee, also, the havy work which fallaeon the commissary and quartermaster quartermas-ter departments. |